Vistra (NYSE:VST) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Vistra Corp. (NYSE:VST) gapped up before the market opened on Friday after BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $125.00. The stock had previously closed at $92.74, but opened at $99.73. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Vistra shares last traded at $100.64, with a volume of 2,905,182 shares changing hands.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on VST. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Vistra from $109.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Vistra in a research report on Friday, September 13th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.83.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Vistra in the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Vistra during the 4th quarter worth about $77,523,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Vistra by 89.2% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 4,772 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Vistra during the fourth quarter valued at about $277,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Vistra in the fourth quarter worth about $221,000. Institutional investors own 90.88% of the company’s stock.

Vistra Price Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $80.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.71. The company has a market capitalization of $37.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.18 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.89.

Vistra (NYSE:VST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.69). The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. Vistra had a return on equity of 21.05% and a net margin of 4.61%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.03 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Vistra Corp. will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Vistra Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be issued a dividend of $0.2195 per share. This is an increase from Vistra’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 20th. Vistra’s payout ratio is currently 53.37%.

Vistra Company Profile

Vistra Corp., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated retail electricity and power generation company. The company operates through six segments: Retail, Texas, East, West, Sunset, and Asset Closure. It retails electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers across states in the United States and the District of Columbia.